Jason Bay Back to Batting Basics

As Jason Bay sifted through the muck of last season and looked back on his lost months of tweaks and adjustments, he realized that all that tinkering had whisked him so far away from his old productive self. He was no longer Jason Bay, power hitter. In his mind, he was no longer even Jason Bay.

“I didn’t really know who I was there for a bit,” Bay said Thursday, appearing relaxed in a backwards cap and flip-flops after arriving two days early at Mets camp. “That is the tough part, is just trying not to be your own worst enemy.”

What Bay forced himself to do, in essence, was to recreate the swing that made him so successful with the Pirates and Red Sox from 2004-09. He began his ugly cycle of adjustments after a slow start to 2010, his first season after signing a four-year, $66 million deal with the Mets. Then, when his adjustments didn’t work, he tweaked again. And again. And still more and more, until Bay no longer recognized himself or his swing.

Rather than continue tweaking his swing throughout the offseason, Bay spent hours hitting at a Bellevue, Wash., complex near his home, attempting to force the repetition into his brain. He realizes now that there was never anything wrong with his swing while in Pittsburgh and Boston, and yet still he tried to alter it.

“There were way too many changes being made,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “We’ve got to use that video we had of him when he was swinging good and try to get him to stay on those tracks.”

To be absolutely clear, I have no idea if going back to the old way is going to be the magic bullet Jason Bay needs to come close to fulfilling his contract. But I am positive that focusing on one stance and one approach, rather than constant tinkering, is his best chance of becoming a productive hitter again.

Hitting is incredibly difficult, and few — if any — can succeed when lacking confidence and thinking about mechanics while a 90+ MPH pitch is coming in. The mind needs to be clear and focused on pitch recognition — anything else in the head is a distraction. Once Bay gets back to trusting his hands and body to react, he can concentrate on deciding whether or not to swing as a pitch comes in. With that focused, singular mindset, he’ll give himself an opportunity to be the hitter that earned a 4-year, $66M contract.

What do you think? Is there any chance Jason Bay can be a legit middle-of-the-order hitter again? Do you see these latest quotes as encouraging, or the typical spring training hot air of false optimism? Answer in the comments.

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.

Color me optimistic. Then again I’m usually colored rose so perhaps my opinion is not worth all that much.

To hear him say exactly what the rest of us know he should be saying usually means he is feeding us a canned response, but in this case why in the world wouldn’t he be telling us the truth? It doesn’t mean he will find the fountain of youth, but it does mean that he will likely bounce back in some capacity. Even if it is not good enough to fulfill his lofty contract, it is still better than the alternative.

argonbunniesFebruary 28, 2012 at 2:08 pm

I really like Bay and will root for him. That said, what my eyes have seen over the last 2 years is a washed-up hitter. Usually when I see that, a resurgence is not forthcoming.

Oh, and I think the wall changes will make absolutely zero difference. He’s always pulled his homeruns, and almost all of them have been far enough to get out of old Citi. I certainly haven’t seen the high LF wall cost him any. If he’d ever started hitting balls off that thing, we’d have been ecstatic.